Marine vessel



HF 3100mm.

MARINE VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1920.

Patented Jan. 4,1921,

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HUGH GOLLIEER, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

MARINE VESSEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. a, 1921.

Application filed June 14, 1926. Serial No. 388,855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H GH R. (J' LLIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson ant State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Marine Vessels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to marine vessels and particularly to a vessel for use in towing timber.

An object of the invention is to provide a vessel capable of being attached to the forward end of a raft or clamp of timber to serve as a bow.

Another object is to provide a vessel of this character capable of being readily applied to the forward end of a raft of timber to prevent sinking of said end and facilitating the towing operation of the power boat.

Another object is to provide a vessel of this character wherein the bow of the vessel is shut off from communication with the stern thereof by means of a wall, the stern of the vessel being open, with the wall thereof disposed inwardly of the vessel, said wall preventing entrance of water to the bow of the vessel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vessel of this character which will float not only when attached to a raft of timber but when disengaged from the raft.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction to be hereinafter more particularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a plurality of clamps of timber with the invention applied to the foremost clamp, and

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the vessel, the timber clamp being shown in dotted lines.

Referring to the drawin s, A denotes a clamp or raft of timber, the 0 amps being connected to each other by means of cables B.

It is a well known fact that in view of the broad end of the foremost raft, the raft is partly submerged when being towed, thereby oifering consider-able resistance to the towing boat requiring greater power and more time to tow the raft to the desired destination than is necessary. In order to overcome this, I provide a vessel 5 of the barge type, said vessel including the bottom (3 and the deck 7, bow 8 and stern 9. The distance between the deck and the bottom at the stern of the vessel, is the same as the distance between the deck and the bottom at the intermediate portion of the vessel. The stern of the vessel is provided with an opening 10, the ends of the sides of the vessel, deck and bottom and stern coinciding with each other. Disposed inwardly of the stern in spaced relation thereto between the deck and the bottom of the vessel is a wall 11, said wall cooperating with the aft portion of the vessel to-provide a compartment 12. The wall 11, serves to set off the aft part of the vessel from the fore part or bow so as to render the bow buoyant. Disposed on the deck of the vessel, in the fore portion thereof is a pair of hatches 13, by means of which the interior of the bow may be reached. A plurality of bits 14 are also mounted on the deck of the vessel.

In the use of the vessel, the fore end of a clamp or raft of timber is disposed within the compartment 12 of the vessel, the vessel thereby providing a bow for the foremost clamp to prevent the same from sinking or retarding the progress of the towing boat. A cable 15 is secured at its end 16 to the intermediate portion of the rearmost clamp and extended over the intervening clamps to the vessel. The end 17 of the cable is secured to the rearmost bits 14 of the vessel so as to hold the bow in position on the foremost raft.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that this invention permits a great saving of time as well as power in towing timber clamps, as the bow of the vessel 5 prevents the fore clamp from being submerged in the towing operation, and greatly facilitates the handling of timber clamps on water-ways. Of course, this vessel can be used in connection with only one clamp of timber, or with any number of clamps connected to each other and operates the same in both instances.

What is claimed is 1. A device for towing timber comprising a vessel including a bow and a stern, the stern being open for the reception of timber, and means for holding said vessel in position on the timber.

2. A device for towing timber comprising a vessel including a bow and a stern, said stern being open, and a stern wall disposed inwardly of the vessel in spaced relation to the open stern to provide a timber receiving compartment, said vessel providing a bow for a raft or clamp of timber.

3. A device for towing timber comprising a vessel including a bow and an open stern, a wall disposed inwardly of the stern between the deck and the bottom of the vessel, said wall cooperating with the aft portion of the vessel to provide a compartment adapted to receive one end portion of a raft or clamp of timber, and means for holding said vessel in position.

4. The combination with a plurality of timber rafts or clamps connected to each other, of a bow for said clamps comprising a vessel including a bow and an open stern, the wall of the stern being disposed inwardly of the vessel in spaced relation to the open stern for the reception of the fore end of the foremost clamp of timber, and a cable secured to the intermediate portion of the clamp of timber remote from the foremost clamp of timber, said cable extending over the intervening clamps of timber and connected at its end to the vessel.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

HUGH R. COLLIER. 

